Despite protest, FCT schools, health centres remain shut

The industrial crisis rocking the six area councils of the FCT has continued to linger despite the recent outburst by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, at the council chairmen over the mass protest staged by the striking council workers on Thursday. The workers are protesting the failure of the six area council chairmen to implement […]

The industrial crisis rocking the six area councils of the FCT has continued to linger despite the recent outburst by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, at the council chairmen over the mass protest staged by the striking council workers on Thursday.

The workers are protesting the failure of the six area council chairmen to implement the new national minimum wage of N70,000 and the non-payment of other allowances.

The minister had, while reacting to the protest by the workers, blasted the council chairmen for being insensitive to the plight of their staff.

Wike, who confirmed the release of over N4 billion for the payment of the new minimum wage, as well as other entitlements to the workers, wondered why the six area council chairmen failed to pay the money.

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He then summoned the chairmen for a meeting over the issue, but days later, nothing had changed.

Sources close to some of the chairmen said the area council bosses were not happy with the way the minister spoke against them in the media and so refused to act in a positive way on the matter.

They had also made the decision not to speak on the issue in the public, one of the source said.

It was not clear as of yesterday if the meeting between the minister and the council chairmen had been held.

What seems clear, however, is that nothing has been paid to the striking workers.

The President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in the FCT, Comrade Abdullahi Ibrahim Kabi, told Abuja Metro that nothing has been paid yet, warning that workers across the six councils will not call off the ongoing strike until the new wage and other entitlements are paid by the area councils.

Kabi said the joint unions would not shift ground until the council chairmen acted positively.

The NULGE president said that though the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, summoned the six area council chairmen for a meeting on Thursday, after the peaceful protest, they were yet to be briefed on the outcome.

Abuja Metro reports that public primary schools, which were shut down during their second term examinations last month, have failed to resume for the third term with their counterparts at the secondary level as a result of the strike.

According to the FCT school calendar, schools resumed for the third term academic season last Monday.

But our correspondents who went round the capital city report that all public primary schools remained under lock and key despite the resumption.

The health centres in the area councils were also not opened as of yesterday afternoon, when Abuja Metro visited some of the centres.

Many locals who spoke with our correspondents in Bwari, Kwali and Abaji pleaded with the relevant stakeholders to wade in and resolve the crisis.

National Assembly wades in

All the parties involved in the crisis reportedly met with the joint Senate/House committees on FCT area councils and auxiliary matters on Tuesday in an effort to resolve the crisis.

Although details of the meeting were still sketchy as of the time of filing this report yesterday, a reliable source, who is a member of the state executive council of one of the unions, confirmed the meeting on condition of anonymity to our reporter over the phone.

He said the invitation of the six area council chairmen, treasurers, heads of administration, NULGE and NUT state executives was a result of last Thursday’s protest by primary school teachers and area council workers.

The source said those invited were expected to come with their documents regarding payment of their workers’ and primary school teachers’ salaries.

“We, at both NULGE and NUT, will also be going with our documents, including several agreements we signed with the six council chairmen,” he said.

One of the council chairmen, who does not want his name in print, also confirmed to our reporter over the phone that the six area council chairmen, treasurers, and heads of administration were invited by the joint committees on FCT Area Councils and Auxiliary Matters today (Tuesday) over the ongoing strike action by the teachers and area council workers.

“Yes, it is true, the six area council chairmen, treasurers and heads of administration are going to the National Assembly this morning to appear before the joint committees on FCT Area Councils and auxiliary matters about the strike. In fact, I am just about to leave as I am talking to you right now,” he said.

It would be recalled that the area council workers, primary school teachers, as well as medical staff of primary health centres, have been on strike for over one month over the non-implementation of the minimum wage and other entitlements by the six area council chairmen.

The workers, on Thursday, besieged the FCT minister’s office, demanding payment of their minimum wage and other entitlements by the area council chairmen.

Even though the FCT mandate secretaries for education and the area councils’ service secretariat, as well as the director of FCT DSS, tried to pacify the workers, they remained adamant.

Irked by the protest, Wike expressed displeasure with the six area council chairmen, saying they had no conscience for failing to pay the minimum wage and other entitlements owed workers and primary school teachers, despite the fact that he had released N4.1 billion to them for that purpose.